MacBook Pro Can't Install Any OS After Ventura

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Level 1

6 points

MacBook Pro Can't Install Any OS After Ventura

I have a 2019 MacBook Pro i9. I've been upgrading the OS over the years with no trouble, and installed Ventura via software update a few days ago, but now it's crashy and I get this Hash Mismatch error which apparently means I need to erase the drive and reinstall the OS. I have a solid pre-Ventura Time Machine backup from a few days ago.

After erasing the drive from Recovery Mode, Ventura fails at like 98% with "an error occurred loading the update" message. When I try to install Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, from USB drives via booting the MBP with Option held down, when I click the OS installer, it goes straight to Choose a Network and will only install Ventura via the downlaod - which always fails. Now I have a MBP I can't get any OS on.

When I try to recover from the Time Machine, it just spins for an hour+ and never gives me the option to progress.

Apple Care is expired. Do I have options here?

Posted on May 6, 2023 9:49 PM

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Answer 1

TheLittles

Level 10

195,717 points

May 6, 2023 10:01 PM in response to nheacock

nheacock Said:

"MacBook Pro Can't Install Any OS After Ventura: [...]Apple Care is expired. Do I have options here?"

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Verify your compatibility...

Updating the macOS:

Determining which Update(s) will Install:

I. Verify Compatibility:

A. Start Here: Learn About Compatibility and how to Identify your Specific Mac Model - Apple Support

B. How to Verify:

I Reveal your Model:

What is the Model of your Mac? To find out...

Go to: Apple menu
Click: About this Mac
View: Second Line-Down

then...

II. Compare the Results:

See if the Model you found is shown here:

III. If Compatible:

Back Up your Mac First: Be certain you Create a Time Machine Backup of your Mac, so that way you can have something to restore your Mac from, should anything go wrong with the reconfiguration.

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Answer 2

TheLittles

Level 10

195,717 points

May 7, 2023 4:41 PM in response to nheacock

nheacock Said:

“MacBook Pro Can't Install Any OS After Ventura: […]The bottom line was that I needed to use another, working, Mac to install the OS (I went with Monterey) onto an external SSD.[…]”

———-

👍Excellent job troubleshooting!

Thanks for providing the solution, and the link to the source of it: "No administrator was found" in Startup Security Utility — Ask Different

Report this as a Bug to Apple:

Do your Part: Inform Apple of this idea. You'd do so by providing Apple Feedback on this. Apple wont get back to you directly, but the more feedback thy receive from its users, the more likely they will know what what bugs exist, and what fixes to include in macOS versions to come.

Go Here: Feedback - macOS - Apple
Select: "Bug Report" for the "Feedback Type"
Select: "Installation/Setup" for the "Feedback Area"
Comment: on the error and what this solution is. Include the URL of this thread.
Proceed from there as necessary

See if SIP is Disabled:

Having read Startup security in macOS, I’m wondering if SIP is disabled. That would most certainly get in the way (a bit of a bummer when troubleshooting third-party software, or personal apps that I’ve authored from AppleScript)Boot into Recovery Mode > Go to Utilities menu > and open Terminal. Using the following command.

csrutil status

What do you see? Is SIP disabled?

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Answer 3

nheacock Author

Level 1

6 points

May 7, 2023 4:11 PM in response to TheLittles

As a follow up, I was able to get an OS installed on the laptop.

It turns out it was the Startuop Security setting to not allow the laptop to boot from external drives that was causing it to not boot off of the USB installer drives. However, since the main drive was erased, I was not able to open the startup security control panel in Recovery to allow for booting from external drives because it said it couldn't find an administrative user, which put me in another quandry.

I partially followed the instructions in this post to resolve the issue:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/364310/no-administrator-was-found-in-startup-security-utility

The bottom line was that I needed to use another, working, Mac to install the OS (I went with Monterey) onto an external SSD.

I then put plugged that external SSD into the MBP, booted into Recovery Mode and used Disk Utility to restore the SSD volume onto the internal drive. After rebooting, I was presented with the welcome screen and setup the OS. Once I was able to get to the desktop I immediatly went to the Startup Security and enabled booting from external drives. I can now boot off of any of those USB installer drives and install whichever OS I want.

Why Apple feels the need to lock down a laptop like it's being used in Fort Knox to the point where it becomes a brick when 99% of their user base are students, musicians, artists, soccer moms, etc is beyond me. Implement the security, sure, but not by default. Give the people who need a higher level of security an option to activate it, not the other way around.

[Edited by Moderator]

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MacBook Pro Can't Install Any OS After Ventura

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